Naomi Tutu to speak at Moravian College as part of Women’s History Month

Bethlehem, Pa., March 9, 2005—Naomi Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu, will speak at Moravian College in honor of Women’s History Month, on Tuesday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m., Prosser Auditorium, Haupert Union Building. Her talk, “Striving for Justice: Searching for Common Ground” is open to the public and admission is free. Tutu grew up under apartheid and has made her life’s work speaking about racial, gender, and economic violence both in South Africa and around the globe.

Tutu is the founder and chairperson of the Tutu Foundation for Development and Relief in Southern Africa. The Foundation was established in 1985 for the dual purpose of preparing refugees for constructive roles in freeing South Africa and providing them with scholarships and the skills to become self-supporting.

Tutu held a visiting appointment as the Seese Lecturer in Comparatives Studies at Brevard College teaching courses on modern Africa, gender and development in the Third World. She was selected as one of the first Brandeis International Fellows in Coexistence and participated in two sessions with fellows from areas of inter-ethnic conflict. She was selected to be South African representative to Africa Network of International Conference on Safe Communities. Naomi Tutu is the associate director of the Office of International Relations and Programs at Tennessee State University

Born in Krugersdorp, South Africa, Tutu holds a B.A. in economics and French from Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky and an M.A. in international economic development from the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Economic Development at the University of Kentucky. In addition, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universal Orthodox College of Ogun State, Nigeria in 1985.

Upon completing her master’s, Tutu served as a consulting associate for Equator Advisory Services Ltd., a private consulting firm in sub-Saharan Africa. She also carried out consulting work in South Africa, researching educational and professional opportunities for black women. Since then, Tutu has taught courses on development, gender, and education in Africa, at the universities of Hartford and Connecticut, and at Brevard College in North Carolina. Tutu has also worked at the University of Cape Town where she was a program coordinator at the African Gender Institute. She was in charge of programs on race and gender and gender-based violence in education. Tutu has received numerous awards and honors from different organizations such as the California State Legislature, the Kentucky State Branches of the NAACP, the Boston City Council, Outstanding Young Women of America, Who's Who of Africans in America, and Dollars and Sense magazine.

The series is sponsored and supported by: Office of Institutional Diversity, Moravian College trustee John Kemps, Arts and Lectures Committee, Multicultural Club, Office of Human Resources, Women Studies Program, History Department, Psychology Department, and the Religion Department. For more information contact the Office of Institutional Diversity at 610 625-7847.